An anti-abortion protester holds up a poster from outside the Jackson Women’s Health Organization also known as The Pink House in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 7, 2022. (Erin Clark / The Boston Globe / Getty Images)
The owner of the only Mississippi state abortion clinic vowed at a news conference Friday afternoon to stay open and continue to provide services to women for the next 10 days, hours after the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling eliminating the constitutional right to abortion nationwide. .
“We continue to offer services, and women like me, and there are many all over the country, will do the same. And today I tell you that we are not. We don’t give up, ”said Diane Derzis, owner of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Under Mississippi law, the abortion ban caused by today’s Supreme Court decision will take effect 10 days after Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch certifies the decision. Fitch has not announced plans for certification.
“That means we will be open for the next 10 days and we will see patients for the next 10 days. Even if they have to do what they have done so often and that has happened through this kind of terrorism,” he said. Derzis said, referring to anti-abortion activists who have often gathered near the clinic. “I will tell you that any patient who contacts us, we will see them. We will make sure to see them during these 10 days,” Derzis said. “A woman should not have to leave the state to get medical attention.”
As of 4 a.m. local time on Saturday, anti-abortion activists began appearing at the clinic, according to CNN’s Nadia Romero.
“Things got very noisy, they really took off. The police were called,” he reported, adding that since then the situation has calmed down.
“They let the women into the facility hours before it opened technically because there was a lot of chaos outside,” she reported.
Clinic volunteer Kim Gibson told Romero that staff will continue to “put the patient first … in front of some really monstrous protesters.”
Romero said the inner lobby was full on Saturday.
Once the Mississippi clinic is forced to close its doors, Derzis said they plan to continue helping women find the services they need.
“It’s nationwide funding. So we know how to put her in touch with these people and find out which is the nearest clinic you know. There will be women who can afford a plane ticket and if they can get on a plane. and get into Las Cruces, or Baltimore, Maryland or wherever, Chicago, Illinois, where it’s easier to enter because your needs have to come first, ”Derzis said.
Derzis and his team have begun plans to open a new clinic in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where they will continue to provide services.
See what happened outside the Mississippi clinic Saturday morning.